Weekends: Do You Fix "Lunch"?

My kids get really hungry...so yes, I fix lunch on weekends for them. They usually have a quick and easy breakfast right when they get up. At around 12:30 or 1 I will make them something they like...nothing hard. Dinner is around 6pm. I find with my kids that if you skip a meal it just leads to either a meltdown and bad moods or to snacking on junk.

Meals on weekends are catch as catch can. I don't eat breakfast, so I don't make breakfast.
There is usually an assortment of leftovers from the previous week's meals that anyone can nuke any time s/he is hungry, and there is always bread, cold cuts, and peanut butter available.

Graze on leftovers and if there is somewhere to be, then a real lunch. I tend to cook a big pot o'something on the weekends, so sometimes that might be done early and we have a bit of that for lunch and then more for dinner.

Just so you know, I raised 3 wildly successful well adjusted children in the "fly by the seat of my pants" fashion.

Here's how our "structure" worked: When someone was hungry, they ate. When there was a place we needed to go, we went. If there was a thing that we needed to do, we did it. When there was something that had to be done which coincided with someone being hungry at that moment (every single day) we ate on the fly. Or said hungry person grabbed a snack for the road.

Otherwise, we just hung out and enjoyed each other's company (which always seemed like too few precious moments).

If you are thinking you are robbing your family by not sitting down together for every meal, you're wrong. Togetherness and important family conversation can happen anywhere, anytime if you promote it. I suspect it already does.

It worked out beautifully, almost like I had a plan. Which I didn't.

:)

Honestly, stop looking at the clock and listen to your stomachs. Who cares what time it is. At 3:00, it's been about 4 hours since you've eaten. Of course you're hungry.

You need to add another meal to the day. It can be a light meal. It can be sandwiches and fruit or veggies. But you need to eat.

We are absolutely a "fly by the seat of our pants" family. My husband and I tend to get engrossed in whatever we're doing and lose track of time. Sometimes one of our boys will approach us and say, "I'm hungry." Opps, did we really not realize that 4 hours had gone by since breakfast? I don't think there's anything wrong with that as long as we stop and eat. The problem we run in to is when we're out and about. We spend too much money eating out :-)

Eat lunch ... even if it's at 3 pm.

Oh boy here, we go, the food issue. Sounds like you are a very happy loving family and who cares what anyone else thinks about your 'meal plan' or 'structure'. You will survive years of grabbing hotdogs at football, hockey, iceskating, cheerleading, marching band, you name it. You will join other families for pizza, eggs, cookies and pancakes and you will eat fifteen times a day or twice a day. Your family is your family. As far as food goes, if you want a bigger dinner, then just put out some healthy snacks a little earlier, like celery and peanut butter, cereal bars, crackers and so on. Life goes on and your little guy won't be little forever. Gosh just enjoy this time and who cares if you move dinner early. This too shall pass.

Your general mealtimes routine sounds similar to mine, except I'm perfectly fine with the kids having a snack around 3pm. I think you're creating a problem where one doesn't need to exist. There is nothing inherently unhealthy about having a small bite in the afternoon.

On weekends, when someone grumbles about being hungry?
They get fed.
I do make dinner most Sundays.
Usually we go out on Saturdays.
If it's in between and meal is a few hours off?
Cheese & crackers, half a sandwich, fruit, cup of soup...

when my boys were that age we were on the go all the time, so not much in the way of 'structure and routine.' why should anyone be hungry, or activities get cut short?
why is a mid-afternoon snack on healthy food 'not healthy'?
khairete
S.

We rarely have a sit down lunch on the weekend, mostly because we sleep later and have a later (and bigger) breakfast but also because we are usually out and about on Saturdays and Sundays, running errands, getting outside/working out, going to the movies, etc. We snack of course and sometimes pack a picnic or go out to lunch, but lunch at home? If it happens it's just heating up leftovers or making sandwiches or whatever.

If I feel like it I will fix a meal. If I don't, everyone grazes. Occasionally we will go out.

We have lunch.

You need to have 3 square meals w/poss snacks in between w/a child.
If you & hubby want to have brunch you can but it's important to have 3
square meals for kids.
They can't go that long. They need food which is fuel.
Since you "don't have plans unless you have plans", plan on having
breakfast, lunch then dinner.
If you want to have your 3 meals five hours apart, plan on having a healthy snack in between each meal.
Also, if we are going somewhere I ALWAYS pack snacks for the little
one (puffs, thinly sliced apples if he likes them, juice, water, crackers
etc.).
He's too young to go w/o food too long btwn meals.
You can still fly by the seat of your pants but still feed your kid.

During sports seasons, we have a routine for lunch. I make it and bring it with us to the different games we attend.

During this period of time - November to January - it's fend for yourself. My boys are 12 and 14 - so they can fix what they want, when they are hungry.

When they were younger? Oh heck yeah - we had a schedule for breakfast, lunch and nap times!!!

We always have fresh snacks - apples, oranges, grapes, bananas and veggies...so they can snack at will too.

Friday night is boys night in - I go out with my girlfriend(s). The boys take care of themselves.
Saturday night - I prepare a meal - and IF I'm feeling like I don't want to cook? We go out...we have a restaurant that we love to go to.

Sunday - is left overs. Get the fridge cleaned out and things get thrown out.

When mine were that age I put out some sliced salami, cheese, olives, baby carrots and ritz crackers and they could "graze". Your routine sounds nice. Relaxing....

Honestly, what you're doing isn't exactly healthy. But perhaps I am not understanding what you mean....so let's clarify: Are you saying that nobody is eating breakfast, and then you eat at about 1030-11, and then dinner is at...what 5 or 6? So that's 2 meals? Do I have this right?

My kids are hungry when they wake. We eat breakfast at about 9am, everyone fends for themselves for lunch at about 1pm and we eat dinner at about 6pm. Sometimes we want a snack, and that's fine...we just make sure it stays a SNACK and doesn't turn into a meal.

2 big meals isn't good for the metabolism. It's recommended that we actually eat 4-5 smaller meals throughout the day.

We graze on leftovers and sandwiches and pizza and that sort of stuff.

Now that our son's a teen - we all fix what we want to eat when we want to eat it.
Have a late small lunch (veggies and some sort of protein) around 2-ish.
Protein and complex carbs are what keep you from getting hungry again for a long while.

What are you having for brunch?
Waffle/pancakes, etc will make you feel full for awhile but it turns to sugar in your bloodstream and once your insulin has processed it, you hit a sugar low, and you get H-U-N-G-R-Y!

A meal described as 'a-brick-in-your-belly' (keeps you feeling full a long time) is a bowl of steel cut oatmeal with a big spoonful of nut butter mixed in.
You can add in nuts and raisins if you want for extra protein and fiber.
It really works!

Remember a child's stomach is only the size of their fist, they are active and even when he takes a nap, his body is growing at a very rapid rate.

He is hungry and in no way is it going to hurt him or be unhealthy for him to eat a smal sand which with some fresh vegetable sticks. Or a bowl of no sugar cereal with some fresh fruit.

Children sometimes need a small snack before bed to be able to stay asleep all night!

Everybody eats something for breakfast when they get up. Most often it's something like a bowl of cereal or a couple of waffles put in the toaster. We all have a bigger lunch, either something we throw together at the house or out If we're out and about. We then have dinner. We fill in the middle with snacks if needed or wanted.
You're only eating 2 meals a day the way you have described it. No wonder your 3.5 year old is asking for more food. You're going too long between meals and don't have enough meals during the day.

We do brunch. We never have "lunch" on weekends. Except Sundays. We don't have time for breakfast before church so we have brunch when we get done. Then we always hav dinner. Works for us!

It's just my husband, me and our 13-year-old daughter. Lots of activities including stuff just for fun. Lunch? On a weekend? We each have breakfast as we like (hot or cold cereals, unless we eat breakfast out which we love to do), and lunch Saturday might or might not happen and is likelier to be each of us having some leftovers, with dinner together (again, leftovers or something very easy). Sundays we tend to have pretty serious snacks at our church after the services so that suffices for lunch (yeah, our church is way into fellowship and food!), and then we have again a very easy and casual dinner.

Don't cut short activities with your son to move a mealtime and meet some idea of "proper" eating times or some notion of being more organized! He really will benefit more from having a more relaxed weekend and doing whatever fun activities you're already doing. Snacks can be healthier than meals, so I'm not sure why you're concerned that it's not healthy to have a substantial midafternoon snack; what matters is what that snack is.

The whole idea of every family member at the table at certain times seven days a week is really not realistic, and can turn into no fun at all for the one who prepares most of the meals. And remember -- studies now say that it's healthier to eat small portions of healthy foods five times a day rather than have three big meals a day (and then stress about snacking).....Keep doing what you're doing and just be sure the snack is healthy.

Is someone in your family, or maybe a relative, complaining? What works for you is what works. Don't alter your son's fun Saturdays and Sundays just to meet anyone else's notion of proper mealtimes. He is young now; soon his weekends will fill with organized activities and commitments and then later with homework....This won't last forever so enjoy it while you can.

We're kind of all over the place on weekends but we always eat lunch... usually sometime in the middle of the afternoon, and often not all of us together... but we all need a meal between breakfast and dinner... (we also eat dinner late... like 8:30ish on weekends it's perhaps a chicken and egg issue with the mid-afternoon lunch but whatever).

I'm a coffee and toast for breakfast lady, so I ALWAYS need lunch. DS makes oatmeal when he gets up, and eats again when SO or I get up because he wants what we have (how is he so skinny)... but he's still hungry by lunch.

I'm not talking about a big meal... a sandwhich, a small plate of leftovers from dinner, a salad, soup... but yes, we eat.

DS is 8 though, so I don't "fix" lunch for everyone. Everyone here is capable of fixing their own. If we're all hungry, I'll make a lunch for the three of us, if not everybody just gets what they want when they want it and eats and the kitchen table.

I make a real, from scratch, meal for dinner.

We're kind of all over the place on the weekends to..meaning not a huge amount of routine. We typically feed the kids breakfast by 8ish and feed them 3 meals plus snacks each day. Often I feel like we just finished cleaning up from x and they are ready for a snack already!

We have breakfast, a big salad for lunch and a regular dinner.

I am not a breakfast person, so, I have a pc of whole grain bread and a 1/2 cup of coffee.

Usually in mid-afternoon---we make a fruit smoothie---ice, water, frozen organic fruit, organic honey, a dash of cinnamon, non-gmo protein powder and a few T. of organic vanilla yogurt.

Yes, we have a small lunch. Sometimes it's just a piece of fruit, but the younger two and I always sit down. Hubby and my 6.5 year old tend to skip it.

Both my wife and I need structure and plans or nothing would ever get done. I also am (slowly) getting in to doing weekly meal plans so that by Sunday night I have planned 3 meals a day for the next 7 days.

I don't understand why you think a snack at 3:00 is not healthy. It is healthier to eat smaller portions more often than it is to eat 3 meals per day.

If you have a light lunch at 3:00, then everyone should be good and hungry for dinner by 6:30(ish).